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On Debt and Redemption: Friedrich Nietzsche's Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence

Publication ,  Journal Article
Allen Gillespie, M
Published in: Journal of Religious Ethics
June 1, 2018

In this essay, I argue that the notion of monetary debt does not displace but merely conceals our deeper, ontological debt to the sources of our being and way of life. I suggest that first Christianity and then modern science attempted to find a means of redemption that could free us from debt, but that both were unable to reconcile the ideas of freedom and indebtedness. I then examine the way in which Friedrich Nietzsche tried to resolve the apparent contradiction of our debt to the past and our freedom to shape the future by developing a new form of redemption rooted in his doctrine of the eternal recurrence.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Journal of Religious Ethics

DOI

EISSN

1467-9795

ISSN

0384-9694

Publication Date

June 1, 2018

Volume

46

Issue

2

Start / End Page

267 / 287

Related Subject Headings

  • Religions & Theology
  • 5004 Religious studies
  • 5001 Applied ethics
  • 2204 Religion and Religious Studies
  • 2201 Applied Ethics
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Allen Gillespie, M. (2018). On Debt and Redemption: Friedrich Nietzsche's Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence. Journal of Religious Ethics, 46(2), 267–287. https://doi.org/10.1111/jore.12218
Allen Gillespie, M. “On Debt and Redemption: Friedrich Nietzsche's Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence.” Journal of Religious Ethics 46, no. 2 (June 1, 2018): 267–87. https://doi.org/10.1111/jore.12218.
Allen Gillespie M. On Debt and Redemption: Friedrich Nietzsche's Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence. Journal of Religious Ethics. 2018 Jun 1;46(2):267–87.
Allen Gillespie, M. “On Debt and Redemption: Friedrich Nietzsche's Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence.” Journal of Religious Ethics, vol. 46, no. 2, June 2018, pp. 267–87. Scopus, doi:10.1111/jore.12218.
Allen Gillespie M. On Debt and Redemption: Friedrich Nietzsche's Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence. Journal of Religious Ethics. 2018 Jun 1;46(2):267–287.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of Religious Ethics

DOI

EISSN

1467-9795

ISSN

0384-9694

Publication Date

June 1, 2018

Volume

46

Issue

2

Start / End Page

267 / 287

Related Subject Headings

  • Religions & Theology
  • 5004 Religious studies
  • 5001 Applied ethics
  • 2204 Religion and Religious Studies
  • 2201 Applied Ethics